i was just wondering how you guys feel about elvis's personal doctor, dr.nick, personally i dont like him for what he did and i think his liscence should have been revoked for good, what do you think, am i wrong??
I personally don't feel Dr. Nick was a good doctor and I read somewhere quite a while back before he died that his license was taken away for over-prescribing to another celebrity but I may be wrong on this. I hope someone else on the board has better information.
Originally Posted by Diane
He died???????????
Yep, he was a $$$$$$$ hungry man who only cared about how much money he could get out of Elvis... well, that is what I think of Dr. Nick.... oh... yes, I do think he should have been locked up and the key thrown away... Dovey
I think initially Dr Nick dealt with Elvis with good intentions, as doctors should. Elvis was a manipulator and could get what he wanted, when he wanted and would get his meds from other doctors when necessary, but I think Dr Nick got caught up in the fame and wealth of his number one patient instead of sticking to his medical ethics. It is unbelievable that he was never really taken to task over his over prescribing !! his licence was revoked yes but I read somewhere that he asked for substantial fees to attend Elvis events and give talks. So he obviously still maintained an income from Elvis after his death
I understand that people want to know about any ailments that Elvis had, as an attempt to lay the theories of his death to rest. It has been said by the inner circle that Dr Nick did indeed truely care for Elvis but when fees are demanded for personal appearences, it casts serious doubt in my mind of Dr Nick's motives.
Dr. Nick is still alive...and here's what is says on wikipedia about him..
In 1980, he was indicted on 14 counts of overprescribing drugs to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, plus twelve other patients. The district-attorney ruled out murder charges because of the conflicting medical opinions about the cause of death of Presley. The jury concluded that he had tried to act in the best interests of his patients. He was acquitted on all counts. Also in 1980, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners found him guilty of overprescription, but decided that he was not unethical. They gave him three months' suspension of his licence and three years' probation.
In 1992 his license was to be revoked, but due to a long court case it wasn't until 1995 that Dr. Nichopoulos had his license permanently suspended by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, again for overprescription. Dr. Nichopoulos claimed it was for patients that suffered from inoperable chronic pain, but he was unsuccessful in his defense. During his many appeals, Dr Nick admitted to the board that he had overprescribed. 'I cared too much,' he told them. During his court cases many friends supported him, raising money and holding benefits to pay for court costs.
I really think the Doc was in a no win situation. I dare say, during that era, there are countless of doctors who were guilty of "overprescribing," of course none had a high profile client named Elvis, so they were pretty much left alone. It took the death of Elvis to change the laws and force doctors to be much more careful okaying meds.
I can't blame him for Elvis problem if thats what you're asking. So I really don't have anything against him , He's not really important to me at all. Supposedly there were several times He told Elvis no, and Elvis just went and got what he wanted from someone else. I believe that too because one of the other doctors was Dr Elias Ghanem who was heavily involved in Boxing which is my other big interest besides Elvis. I've spoken to him years ago and wasn't really that nice to him at first, and he said Elvis had at least two other guys in Vegas as well. So I've come to the conclusion that Elvis wanted what he wanted when he wanted it, and there wasn't any telling him no. People tried,His Father included, and he went around or over them.
Some great posts.......My take, for what it's worth.......as mentioned by Shake A Hand, Elvis could be very manipulative, and tried to manipulate Dr Nick, though I feel that Nichopoulos, being a health professional, should have had the intelligence and training to diagnose Elvis as an addict, and therefore, put in place protocols to address this problem.
Whilst he has said he made every effort to curtail Elvis' drug intake (substituting medication with placebo's and the like), these appear to have been token efforts.
"Mr Dickman certainly can take care of himself."
I think you hit the nail on the head here shake a hand well said. i agree with your comment.
elvislady
All of the above were very good posts concerning this subject. However, I still feel that Dr. Nick was in the wrong. Granted that Elvis went over and around him to get what he wanted but who over-prescribed in the first place to get him hooked to the point where he was so addicted that he felt he couldn't live without the drugs? Also Dr. Nick did it again and again with other celebrities until his license was finally revoked so how can he be considered guiltless?
Dr. Nick, in my opinion, was nothing more than a greedy, manipulative S.O.B. He prescribed things to Elvis that weren't needed, (but, Elvis had a copy of the Physicans' Desk Reference Book so he knew what everything was anyway), and, in many cases, I have heard that members of the Memphis Mafia forged Elvis' signature to get meds from Dr. Nick for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that Dr. Nick didn't think he was doing anything wrong......while his intentions might have started off well, they sure took a turn for the worse later. I can't believe it took about 18 years after Elvis died for his license to have been revoked. It should have been done back in 1980 or earlier. Elvis may have been manipulative, but Dr. Nick was worse, far worse.
i thank you all for seeing it as i do, but i think that you are definately right 100% that is just what i think, thank you for putting it into words for me.
how could he do this to Elvis???
Just to clairify myself, in case I'm the one that planted the Manipulation seed here .Dr. Nick, in my opinion, was nothing more than a greedy, manipulative S.O.B. He prescribed things to Elvis that weren't needed, (but, Elvis had a copy of the Physicans' Desk Reference Book so he knew what everything was anyway), and, in many cases, I have heard that members of the Memphis Mafia forged Elvis' signature to get meds from Dr. Nick for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that Dr. Nick didn't think he was doing anything wrong......while his intentions might have started off well, they sure took a turn for the worse later. I can't believe it took about 18 years after Elvis died for his license to have been revoked. It should have been done back in 1980 or earlier. Elvis may have been manipulative, but Dr. Nick was worse, far worse.
I just know that me, a regular guy, isn't going to be told no if I want something in my reach I'm getting it. Think
about if you've been ELVIS, The Elvis, biggest star in the world for that many years. He wasn't going to be denied by anyone. Thats why he had other doctors. Its not so much Manipulation for evil reasons as it is, that He had so many problems physically nobody was aware of at that point in time that He needed it for peace or comfort.
Addiction is an Illness , and he had real Illness that lead to the addiction. Interesting topic to ponder once in awhile I suppose. I guess I just come down on the Minority side in this one.
I think it's the doctor's responsibility to prescribe the right amount of prescription pills and to also know if their patient is taking any other pills at the same time..I think Dr. Nick was wrong! Then again, Elvis was taking so many different kinds of pills, there's no way his body could take it anymore. after all those years...
franny
I think it's the doctor's responsibility to prescribe the right amount of prescription pills and to also know if their patient is taking any other pills at the same time..I think Dr. Nick was wrong! Then again, Elvis was taking so many different kinds of pills, there's no way his body could take it anymore. after all those years...
franny
I don't think its that big a problem these days Franny, but in the 1970s they didn't have the internet and stuff instantly linking all the pharmacy's to each other like today . Though Elvis being Elvis could probably still have gotten what he wants other ways .
In one of the Peter Guralnick books , Careless Love I believe . They tell a story how One time Elvis was denied by Dr Nick and his other usuals and he had called around to Pharmicies and went to one of the Pharmacist houses after hours knocked on the door ,The guys jaw dropped open that its Elvis. Elvis said Said Hi I'm Elvis you got any of this? Handed him a list of what he wanted followed the guy into the bathroom and got what he wanted. Elvis was just a force of nature. He was that way in every part of his life. I'm watching that documentry 200 Cadallics the other night. He'd get car lots to open after hours, they'd laugh at you or me if we tried that. Elvis didn't give them a chance to say no. Elvis would get Sears to open after hours. They'd call up the Manager "I'm Elvis I'm coming By at Midnight", and the guy would open up just for him. There just wasn't anything like the guy ever.
the thing is, Elvis had an addiction we all know that but Dr. Nick being a DOCTOR should had diagosed that being he is the one giving the medication and he should have had a talk with Elvis about this.
I truly believe that Dr. Nick's intentions were harmless in the beginning but somewhere down the line (prolly 'round 1971) things started getting out of hand and Dr. Nick got caught up in Elvis's lifestyle. Elvis was very manipulative and he was also self-destructive. When it came to getting what he wanted, he would do anything to make it happen. All of the blame cannot be placed on Dr. Nick (although he shares some) because I believe that he did try to curtail Elvis's drug use (as did the Memphis Mafia) but it is ultimately Elvis at fault here because he was an addict (Yes, I said it) and an addict will do anything to satisfy their craving for whatever it is they are addicted to and in Elvis's case, drugs were the problem. Let's also not forget that there were other doctors (Shapiro, Newman, Ghanem) who also supplied Elvis with these drugs...so I don't believe that Dr. Nick should be totally blamed for the drug use. It's like the old saying, 'You can't stop a drinker from drinking unless he wants to do it himself"...
I totally agree with you!Dr. Nick, in my opinion, was nothing more than a greedy, manipulative S.O.B. He prescribed things to Elvis that weren't needed, (but, Elvis had a copy of the Physicans' Desk Reference Book so he knew what everything was anyway), and, in many cases, I have heard that members of the Memphis Mafia forged Elvis' signature to get meds from Dr. Nick for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that Dr. Nick didn't think he was doing anything wrong......while his intentions might have started off well, they sure took a turn for the worse later. I can't believe it took about 18 years after Elvis died for his license to have been revoked. It should have been done back in 1980 or earlier. Elvis may have been manipulative, but Dr. Nick was worse, far worse.
and I love you so..people ask me how..how I've lived 'till now
I disagree.....Elvis was majorly ill......not addicted to meds.
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